Ethiopia has officially expressed its interest in becoming a member of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies, its ministry of Foreign Affairs has revealed.
“We have applied for membership and we expect BRICS to give us a positive response to the request we have made,” Foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Meles Alem, has said.
“As a country that has been a founding member of global institutions like the AU and the UN, and as we seek to guarantee our national interests, it is important to join blocs like BRICS.”
In March 2023, Egypt’s Parliament gave the green light for the country to join the BRICS Bank, also known as the New Development Bank, with lawmakers viewing it as a means of reducing reliance on the US dollar.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ethiopia, with the second largest population in Africa, is among the continent’s rapidly expanding economies.
The term BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. It was coined by the Chief Economist of Goldman Sachs in 2001 as a reference to the emerging economies of the world. Initially, it was referred to as BRIC, with the ‘S’ added later when South Africa joined the group officially in 2010.
According to recent financial reports, BRICS is already the world’s largest gross domestic product (GDP) bloc in the world currently contributing 31.5% to the global GDP, ahead of the G7, which contributes 30.7%.
The organization has experienced a resurgence following the ongoing geopolitical conflict that arose from the Ukraine-Russia war, with Russia and China making moves to extricate themselves from western control structures including the U.S Dollar which is a powerful element in global trade and hegemony.
Several countries from Africa and the world have expresssed interest to join the bloc including:
- Egypt
- Algeria
- Bangladesh
- Argentina
- Iran
- Indonesia
- Saudi Arabia
- Turkey
The current members of the BRICS alliance are working on a new currency with details set to be unveiled at an upcoming summit meeting to be held in South Africa in August 2023.
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